DJI’s Osmo Action Camera Arrives

It’s finally here: DJI has announced its action camera – a bona fide action camera – complete with ‘Action’ as half its name: the Osmo Action. It’s a direct competitor to GoPro’s Hero 7 Black, matching it on almost every spec while also offering a few completely unique features, like a front-facing selfie screen. It costs $349, and it’s available now.

There have been many entrants to this market of the years – but nobody has been positioned the same way that DJI is. GoPro too has a loyal following – and for good reason: They make solid action cameras, with the Hero 7 Black last fall being by far the best they’ve ever made.

DJ Osmo action is a durable versatile action camera jam-packed with advanced technology that allows users live the action rather than worrying about equipment handling and safety.

Here are the DJ Osmo’s core features:

• Shoots 4K/60FPS with stabilization enabled.
• ‘RockSteady’ stabilization – roughly equal to GoPro’s HyperSmooth, and works in all 16:9 modes.
• Contains a 2.25” rear colour touch screen display, and, a 1.4” front-facing color screen.
• Slow-mo modes up to 240FPS/120FPS for 1080p and 720p.
• WiFi for connecting to your Smartphone and downloading footage.
• Records HDR video in 4K/30 – but no stabilization.
• Quick shot modes for saving favourite settings.
• Removable front lens, which DJI then makes ND filters available for
  removable battery lasts 91 minutes in 4K/30 with RockSteady, and 1hr 56mins in 1080P/30FPS without RockSteady.
• The unit is waterproof down to 36ft/11m without a case, though a dive case accessory exists.
• Takes 12MP photos in still, burst, timed, timelapse (photo or video actually), and AEB (JPEG+RAW). Oddly, burst mode is limited to a mere 7 shots.
• Pro settings for changing white balance, ISO, exposure for all video and photo modes.
• USB-C charging port.
• USB-C microphone adapter coming soon.
• Price at $349, and available from today.
• Action OS is an extremely fast interactive system that combines and efficient streamlined UI with three accessible buttons to provide Rapid flexible operation powering on recording and setting modes can all be done in the blink of an eye.
• Voice control 5 voice commands make essential functions like filming capturing photos in powering down the device effortless.

Consumers would of course be curious to know if the DJI OSMO Action holds candle to the GoPro Hero 7 Black. Several reviews have drawn parallels:

In many ways, DJI basically just built a GoPro Hero 7 Black. Starting with the exterior of the camera- In the front there is a removable lens and a secondary forward-facing display screen.

With the removable lens, the front glass can easily be swap for ND filters, sold by the company. GoPro supports this as well. Last fall, the GoPro Hero 7 Black introduced some of the best stabilization action cameras had seen, and the Osmo Action’s RockSteady feature is up to par. The biggest downside is that the image crops more than GoPro’s, in both photo and video.

The most noticeable difference is the Action’s front-facing selfie screen, which is a game-changer for selfie footage. Instead of having to open an app the user can simply glance down and check their framing on the camera’s front-facing screen.

Secondly, the Action has ND filters which won’t fall off when the user jumps into water, thanks to the screw-on mounting system.

DJI’s new camera can be placed on helmets, bike frames, or electric skateboards since it works with almost all GoPro mounts that are already out there. The camera is pretty light, weighing about 0.3 pounds. The DJ IMO app is filled with intuitive features and powerful editing tools to optimize users’ experience.